Mixed Monday

Happy Monday, dames! I just finished a spin class at the gym, and after ignoring myself in this department for almost 10 days due to a hectic schedule, it felt great to SWEAT. It’s Monday, spring is ALMOST in the air, and the sun is actually shining in Montreal.

Today is sort of a mixed bag, so I titled it Mixed Monday– keeping you updated on some events, revelations and conclusions… WomenOnTheFence style.

I’d love to kick it off with a Music Monday before we dive in. If you watch anything this week, let this be it. I have hope for humanity when I see stories like these.

Beyond brilliant, right? Although I do feel intuitively that child prodigies such as Jay Greenberg must struggle too. It cannot be easy on many levels.

Last Thursday, I spoke to a savvy group of female entrepreneurs. I was the luncheon keynote for the Women’s Entrepreneurial Network and shared some secrets, tips and strategies to growing your brand and making money online. The adrenaline rush I get from teaching AND learning from women out in the field never grows tired. If you missed my talk, I am sharing a little TV appearance on this similar topic. It is possible to make money from the comforts of your own home, and it has many perks. But, I did share my honest truth at that luncheon – it took me 2 1/2 years to properly monetize, so if this is your dream, you’ll just have to moonlight until you’re revenue bearing. There is no overnight success in this department, so it’s all about the turtle vs. the hare. You have to be in it for the long run. You have to have staying power.

After going to bed on a high Thursday night from my talk, I awoke Friday morning to teach 1st and 5th grade for “Parents As Teachers” Day. I volunteer for this day every year, and I generally rotate between three topics: 1) blogging, 2) entrepreneurship / kidpreneurship and 3) how to write a book. In my son’s 1st grade class, I helped the kids write their book outline (basic beginning, middle and end), and they got to create their own book covers and set the selling price. The kids loved the exercise, and living in Quebec, I must have had at least nine books titled THE MAGIC HOCKEY STICK. Cute.

I then moved onto 5th grade, where I talked about blogging. I shared the story of how I began five years ago, and showed the kids a little YouTube video I made for Father’s Day a few years ago. They laughed at the baby pictures, but I showed them the concept of embedding video and photo into their blogs to add texture and dimension.

We then moved onto the real exercise- the kids had to create their own blogs and write their first blog post! We had blog titles such as www.ILoveBaking.Com. We had www.InspiredDance.com. We had www.TaylorLautnersAbs.com (holy Twilight obsession)! We had my son’s, www.ILoveRobFord.com (was dying of embarrassment). And then we had another blog, a brave girl who asked to read her first blog entry to the class. She walked up to the front, cleared her throat, and spoke steadily as she told us about her father’s passing a few years ago, and urged the children that if they are suffering about something, to not keep it inside. To tell someone. She made me a copy of her blog post, and I have put it away with my keepsakes. She told me that she was inspired by the exercise, that is she is going to start blogging and try to help other kids who lose a parent. Her maturity, sensitivity and wisdom beyond her years left such an impression on me, I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind.

I left Friday morning on another high. These children gave me so much.

And finally, after a follow-up ultrasound Saturday morning after discovering two nodules in my thyroid, I was given good news. All is clear. For now.

Allllll this to say, I discovered a few things last week:

• After being the weird one amongst my friends these past few years being so heavily entrenched in social media, I am actually now the cool mom amongst my son’s friends. Score!! The kids asked ME about Instagram, Twitter etc… Being a Social Media Mom FINALLY has its perks! Booyah! 😉
• When you open up your heart and speak from a place of vulnerability and authenticity, you receive much more in return. The women in the audience, the kids in that classroom gave me much more than I gave them. When you share a story, it has power. There is tremendous power in storytelling. Try telling your story to one new person, and see what happens.
• And finally, I realized that worrying is counter productive. To worry is to waste energy you don’t have. All we can do is deal with what is, when it comes, and not a minute before that. There is power to living in the moment. There is benefit in managing our worries and not living the outcome before it actually comes. I really realized that this weekend.

So, I wish you a fantastic Monday. I’d love to know how you’re doing.